Hasta La Gadget!

It’s not the first time that Samsung’s pimped up their hard drives with some USB 3.0 goodness, but come April, the Korean giant will be delivering three new product lines that are yet to be named. The first one is a basic portable model that goes up to 1TB, and comes encased in a smudge-resistant matte housing with a choice of four colors. The next one up is simply a premium version of the portable drive that not only looks prettier (as pictured above), but also beefed up with auto backup software and 256-bit Full Disk Encryption. A USB dock will be available for both portable lines.

Last but not least, those looking for more storage space (and presumably faster spinning speeds) can turn to the desktop version, which will be available in three flavors: 1TB, 1.5TB, and 2TB. Press release after the break.

Continue reading Samsung spices up the USB 3.0 hard drive party with three new models

Samsung spices up the USB 3.0 hard drive party with three new models originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Jan 2011 18:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We know what you were thinking: my external hard drive enclosure is nice and all, but why is it so quiet? Well, Thermaltake is here to fix that with its new Max 5G dual-fan enclosure. Outside the fans and the fancy LED lights (which can be switched off, if you’re feeling unextreme one particular morning), the enclosure is pretty great itself, with a smokin’ USB 3.0 plug and support for high-end 3.5-inch SATA 3.0 drives. The fans are to promote long life on your hard drive and “data integrity” and all that, but pretty much they just say to your SATA drive: “I care.” And isn’t that all that matters? The enclosure is available for pre-order right now for $52, no word on release.

Thermaltake’s Max 5G dual-fan USB 3.0 HDD enclosure cools your platters with style originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 28 Dec 2010 21:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It took LaCie nearly a full year to ship the 2big USB 3.0 RAID drive — a device that was announced in the fall of 2009 — but now that it’s here, it’s being accompanied by a concept that actually far outshines the unit itself: USB 3.0 on a Mac. For whatever reason, Apple has refused to offer SuperSpeed USB on any of its machines, even a fully specced-out Mac Pro costing well north of $10,000. We’ve seen purported emails from Steve Jobs noting that USB 3.0 just isn’t mainstream enough to sweat just yet, but coming from the guy who’s still bearish on Blu-ray, we get the feeling that it’ll be quite some time far too long before Apple finally caves and upgrades from USB 2.0. We’re obviously no fans of the holdout — after all, even a few sub-$500 netbooks are enjoying the SuperSpeed spoils already — so we couldn’t have possibly been more excited to hear that a longstanding storage vendor was about to fill the void that Cupertino continues to ignore. We were able to pick up a LaCie USB 3.0 PCIe expansion card as well as a 4TB (2 x 2TB) 2big USB 3.0 drive and put the whole setup through its paces on our in-house Mac Pro. Care to see how it stacked up against USB 2.0, FireWire 400 and FireWire 800? Head on past the break for the grisly details.

Continue reading USB 3.0 for Mac review and benchmarks (with a LaCie 2big USB 3.0)

USB 3.0 for Mac review and benchmarks (with a LaCie 2big USB 3.0) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 17 Dec 2010 14:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Remember the Barracuda LP? Meet its formal successor. In a bid to generate some interest from upgrading Sierra Club members, Seagate has just introduced the Barracuda Green, described as the world’s highest performance eco-friendly desktop hard drive. Essentially, this 3.5-inch internal HDD aims to split the difference between power and performance, with a 5,900RPM spin speed and the company’s own SmartAlign technology to enable the benefits of the new 4K sector standard. The company claims that it’s whisper quiet in use, and it drains less power than non-Green alternatives. It’s hitting the sales channel now in 1TB, 1.5TB and 2TB sizes, with the big guy topping out at around $120. Ma Earth thanks you in advance for your consideration.

Continue reading Seagate ships 3.5-inch Barracuda Green internal hard drive, leaves and all

Seagate ships 3.5-inch Barracuda Green internal hard drive, leaves and all originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 15 Dec 2010 18:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Western Digital may have shipped the industry’s first 2.5-inch 1TB hard drive, and PureSilicon may have done likewise for the SSD sector, but Seagate is still finding a way to lay claim to a “first” with its newfangled Constellation.2. This here 2.5-incher is hailed as the “first 1TB 2.5-inch enterprise HDD,” with it being primed and ready for the insane demands generally found in DAS, NAS, SAN and other nonstop business environments. You’ll get 6Gb/s performance, T10 Protection Information (you know, for keeping your scanned travel receipts safe and sound) and 1.4 million hours MTBF. There’s a self-encrypting drive option for those who just can’t be too careful, and it’ll be out and about later this month in capacity choices of 250GB, 500GB, and 1TB. Mum’s the word on pricing, but Dell ought to be offering ’em across its enterprise products before the dawn of 2011.

Continue reading Seagate trots out 2.5-inch 1TB Constellation.2 hard drive, dares you to wear it out

Seagate trots out 2.5-inch 1TB Constellation.2 hard drive, dares you to wear it out originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 13 Dec 2010 17:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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